Yes, it’s been a while since my last post, too much work and travel kept me from posting more frequently. I hope to improve on this, I’ll add this to my bottomless TO-DO list, whose ability to stay always full can only be matched by my PAPERS-TO-READ list. There’s so much happening these days in and around Creative Commons, digital media, fair use, virtual worlds, all these topics that get me excited, that it can be hard to stay on top of all this information.
First things first: State of Play V in Singapore was a great experience, one of the few occasions in this world I would guess (the other one I can think of being the iSummit) where one can meet so many lawyers who are fun to talk to and are actually working on interesting and cutting edge stuff instead of settling divorces and inheritance claims (which is what I always thought lawyers are for after all). I think the workshop organized by CAPTEL wherein I also gave my own little ’spiel’ on CC and Second Life went quite well, at least I learned a lot from it and had many good follow-up discussions.
Then came TPRC in Washington DC. First time at TPRC for me, though I’ve known of its existence for many years now, just didn’t have much to say about policy in the past. But now I do have one or two things to say about CC, copyright and the balancing of the rights of authors, copyright owners, and society at large. You can read my paper “Taking Stock of the Creative Commons Experiment” with Warren Chik, Ankit Guglani and Giri Tayi on the TPRC website (also blogged on the CC blog).
Very interesting were also the other presentations at our session (see link above), especially that of Mark Schultz on the Cost Disease of public live performance is very relevant for anyone interested in the future of music recording versus live performance. James Grimmelmann presented at another session on commons production and the role of moderation, a more theoretical piece which needs to be read more carefully to be appreciated. Overall it is now clear to me what the main value of TPRC is: getting to know in just a couple of days what the hottest topics are at the intersection of networks, media, law and policy. And for that alone it was worth it.
Washington subway station, not your shoddy NY subway :)
Other than that, Washington seems like a nice city, much more quiet than New York, with all the positive and negative qualities that come with being quiet. New York is a mad, howling gorilla of a city, it is great fun, but with a uniquely negative vibe, perhaps this is why it is attracting so much love and hate, domestic and imported.
Washington – view from the Smithsonian
If you get a chance, visit the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, this is about the only bit of ‘tourism’ I did in the city, and it was worth it: hosting a good collection of modern American and some foreign sculpture, paintings, and installations.
Washington – view from the Hirshhorn museum
After Washington and NYC it was off to San Francisco and the Silly Valley…
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